Development of shy/bold behaviour in squid: context-specific phenotypes associated with developmental plasticity

Abstract

Animals often differ from one another in their willingness to take risks in a number of functional contexts related to fitness (e.g. mating, dispersal, and foraging behaviour). Although several studies have reported life history correlates and selective consequences of this variation in shy/bold behaviour, little attention has been paid to developmental processes resulting in shy/bold phenotypes. Here, we present a lifetime developmental study of shy/bold behaviour in dumpling squid, Euprymna tasmanica. Behaviour was measured in two test contexts, a threat and a feeding test, at five times across the entire life span. Across test contexts, shy/bold behaviour was not correlated at any age; wh..